Do You Need Contingency Plans for a Yard Management System?
Contingency plans help establish a risk assessment within your warehouse operations. Additionally, implementing a contingency plan establishes a foundation that clearly maps out business processes, procedures, technologies, and important personnel. Here we are going to discuss what a contingency plan is, why you need contingency planning for yard management, some key components of yard management contingency planning, and why it is necessary to optimize your yard management system.
Do You Need a Contingency Plan for Yard Management Systems?
Why You Need Contingency Planning for Yard Management
As stated earlier, having a contingency plan in place adds a layer of protection and security in case an unexpected emergency situation occurs. As it is well known, anything can happen. If or when a contingency plan is not in place, there are a few risks that may take place:
- Complete loss of data.
- A massive interruption in business operations.
- Potential loss of clients and a damaged reputation.
- Possible business failure.
Additionally, without creating a contingency plan, you will be putting your supply chain logistics at risk knowing an added layer of security is not present. Here is why contingency planning is beneficial:
- It promotes a yard’s performance assessments.
- It prevents future panic.
- It minimizes operational loss.
- It establishes trust with internal yard personnel and external clients/customers.
Pandemics, like COVID-19, Has Exposed the Dire Need for Contingency Plans in the Supply Chain
Covid-19 was something that we only believed would happen in movies, but it became a dramatic reality in 2020. Since then, even at the end of 2021, the pandemic left a long-term effect on a global supply chain, delaying shipments, manufacturing processes, and negatively impacting business growth. As a result, a lot of businesses had no choice but to shut down due to not receiving inventory in time during peak shopping seasons. Seeing the damage Covid-19 has left behind, having contingency plans are more important than ever to resolve and mitigate any warehouse and operations yard issues that may arise. As we have discovered, anything can happen.
The Key Components of a Yard Management Contingency Plan
The key components of a yard management system contingency plan are as follows: Assess, Plan, and Communicate. Assess your contingency plan by mapping out the supply chain and anticipate possible problems and ongoing risks. Then, prepare the contingency by remaining flexible during each planning stage, focusing heavily on supply chain visibility, and creating multiple contingencies depending on the situation. Finally, clearly communicate each step of the contingency plan so every yard operations manager and employee understand every detail. When creating your contingency plan, here are a few key takeaways:
- Establish a clear process for the contingency by assigning and delegating roles to team members.
- Identify and determine possible risks based on various scenarios that can affect the business’s yard operations.
- Develop a strong understanding of your yard management system and its different options.
- Clearly define each step of the contingency plan to reduce any confusion across the yard.
- Partner with external vendors for additional help just incase if you need it.
- Conduct testing on the contingency plan to make sure it is successful. This will help you understand when you would need to activate it.
- Constantly reevaluate your contingency plan monthly and quarterly to see what needs to be changed or improved.
How Do We Know so Much About Yard Management Systems?
YardView lives and breathes yard management systems. Our team fully understands how often yard operations is pushed to the side and is perceived as being unimportant, even though transportation and warehouse management is more crucial than ever. Without properly managing your operations, it can significantly impact your supply chain operations success. Keeping these issues in mind, we built a robust, state-of-the-art yard management software that transforms your operations yard into an asset that you cannot live without.